2 southwest Indiana towns electing officials to 3-year terms

BOONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Officials elected to govern two southwestern Indiana towns later this year will serve three-year terms instead of four in a cost-saving move for both their communities.

The town councils of the Warrick County towns of Tennyson and Elberfeld both passed ordinances last year to put their towns on the county's election cycle to save money.

"It just makes sense," Tennyson Town Council President Scott Dowers told the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1J3dFKn ).

Tennyson's election cost about $1,300 in 2011. Elberfeld paid about $2,000.

Indiana cities and towns usually hold their elections in odd-numbered years, while counties hold them in even-numbered years. That forces the local governments to pay election judges and other election-related costs.

"Towns have been forced to cut their budgets, and this is one way we could do everything we can to save," Dowers said. "We've got to save whenever we can."

When the two towns northeast of Evansville hold their 2018 elections, the winners will serve four-year terms.

Moving to a county election cycle also could bring in more voters, Dowers said.

"It should get more people out to the polls," Dowers said.

Warrick County Clerk Sarah Redman said she wishes all the towns and cities would move their elections to the county election period.

"It costs me and the clerk's office time, labor," she said.

The clerk's office has to pay for the election clerk's time, she said, and office labor isn't billable to the towns and city.

"It would just be a lot easier if it was all just at the same time," Redman said.

The towns and city wouldn't have to pay a penny if they held the elections when the county did, she said.

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com